This is Amelia Rayno's third season on the Gophers men's basketball beat. She learned college basketball in North Carolina (Go Tar Heels!), where fanhood is not an option. In 2010, she joined the Star Tribune after graduating from Boston's Emerson College, which sadly had no exciting D-I college hoops to latch onto. Amelia has also worked on the sports desk at the Boston Globe and interned at the Detroit News.

Like many schools, Minnesota is watching local 2015 recruit Sacar Anim but is hesitant to offer

Sacar Anim is still hoping to reach down and find that extra something.

Plenty of schools have come through Minnesota and other events the 2015 recruit has participated in to watch Anim, a skilled and intelligent 6-4 shooting guard. But very few have extended scholarship offers.

Minnesota is among those holding out. Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, Creighton and Dayton have also expressed interest but haven't gotten serious enough to talk scholarships. Right now the only offers Anim has are Northern Iowa and Drake, he said at the Howard Pulley Invitational.

"There's always that frustration -- you have the hard work but you haven't really gotten the offers yet," Anim said. "Things are really picking up, especially in the first section. I'm getting a lot of schools interested but no offers yet from this last tournament but hopefully after this next session and in the live period I'll start getting some more."

NCAA basketball recruiting is currently in a "quiet period" -- meaning coaches can't watch or visit players -- until July 5.

Anim, his athleticism taking a bit of a back seat to teammate Jarvis Johnson, has already shown he can be very effective on the break and is apt in finishing at the rim.

Asked what he thought programs were waiting to see from him, Anim replied "Just prove to them that I can play with the best of the best in the country. Just having a motor, showing them my outside range, being able to knock down the three, having all aspects of the game, just being a leader and all that."

He said Minnesota coach Richard Pitino has talked about a lot of the same -- things he likes about Anim's game -- and that the head coach has suggested sitting down together in July to chat about his recruitment further. Anim was on Dinkytown campus, visiting unofficially, a couple weeks ago.

In the meantime, it's his father and his coach at DeLaSalle, Dave Thorson, that have provided guidance in the waiting.

"[They say] just let the game come to me," Anim said. "Don't have a big head. The offers are going to come, just go out there and play your game and don't worry about it. And when it comes down to it, we'll sit down and make the right decision, look at the coaching staff and atmosphere and all that and pick the fit that fits me."